I just need a lil advice...

[mrdutton]

Unless your mother's cabinet was consistently chilled to about 50 degrees F., along with a decent amount of humdity to keep the corks from drying out, then I'd hazard a guess that you may want to use the wine for salad dressing................

The merlot might stand a chance of being okay, even under less than ideal storage conditions. However I don't think the Mouton-Cadet would have survived - especially if it has been stored in the cabinet all these 18 (almost 19) years.

That's my humble opinion. Sorry for bringing you bad news about the wine.